"Ivy had reached her due date but been off her food and inactive for two days," vet Jo Reynard told the Mirror. "Later that evening we became concerned as her health was deteriorating and with no signs of normal labour progressing, we decided to do a C-section to save Ivy's life and that of the baby."

It's the first time the procedure has been carried out on a primate by the zoo's staff, and the baby is, happily, doing well; until she can suckle on a bottle, she is being fed powdered milk and is living in a mobile incubator.